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Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Our Labyrinth Junk Lady... IS ALIVE!

After a panicky sprint toward the finish line, John and I have managed to get our Junk Lady about 95% done - which is good enough for some pictures, right?

Let's start with a quick video of this "poultry in motion:' [snerk]

(See the chicken?)

Now some still shots:

(Taken with my phone, sorry for the not-great quality.)

I'm sure you've already spotted my most obvious Easter Egg on the back, right? ('ELLO!) Closeups of that to come, further down.

Now let's break down some of these prop components, because you NEED to see John's workmanship on this stuff.

The chair is the most important/recognizable part of the junk pile, and after comparing proportions we realized it was actually a child's size. (Which makes sense, given Junk Lady's love of childhood cast-offs.)

Here's a movie reference shot:

(This and our own blurry screen caps were pretty much all we had to work with, so just figuring out what to make was a challenge!)

Since finding that exact chair in a child's size would be next to impossible, John made one himself from PVC pipe, which - who knew? - can be bent when heated with a heat gun. The center supports are thin wooden dowels, and then that black rubber tubing on the right became the extra "wicker" trim:

After a quick paint job and aging, you'd never know this thing was fake. And as a bonus, it's much lighter than a wicker chair, too.

John was so fast with his garage builds I couldn't keep up, picture-wise, but here's his EVA foam drum:

After this he used domed furniture tacks and string to make the lacing.

Here's a screenshot of the drum in the movie:

Also in that shot you can *just* see a candle stuck onto a brown canvas bag of some sort. Here's ours:

John made the satchel from a thrift store blanket (heavily painted & distressed) wrapped around cardboard and foam. Again, nice and light. And that wrench? That's pink insulation foam, carved & painted. To build up the candle wax John used hot glue and real wax, and the candle also has a dowel in it, for strength.

We found this perfect vintage saw for $1.50 at a thrift shop, and here's my favorite part: we replaced the old rusty blade with plastic poster board. We cut a new blade edge with pinking shears, added some paint, and voila! An almost completely weightless - and safe! - prop saw blade.

Remember that convo John and I had about the abacus? Here it is:

Beautiful, right? John built the frame and base-coated everything, then I handled making the fake clock face and all the distressing.

John also sewed that water skin from scrap vinyl and faux suede we had around. In fact, a shocking amount of these props were made from things we already had on hand, which made it extra fun.

Here's the side angle movie shot:

The abacus is waaaay down on the bottom right. You can only just see it once or twice when she turns around.

Another of my favorite props is John's rat trap, which hangs next to and behind her head:

John made it with a stiff wire base wrapped with glued twine. The door even opens! Again, all materials John already had in the garage, and it weighs practically nothing. To top it off, I found a toy rat plush at the thrift store to keep inside.

Of all the things we had to find, we figured the chess board would be the easiest - so of course it was the hardest. In the end, John had to paint our own over a vintage Backgammon board:

... which I then distressed.

(That canteen is NOT done, so please excuse the shine. It's another from-scratch John build, and will be appropriately grungified soon, promise.)

All of the cookware, tins, wicker accent bits, cutlery, & stuffed animals are thrift store finds, which we distressed with spray paint and sanding.

In my last post I mentioned Junk Lady could be worn two ways: on our backs or on her custom rolling cart. Here's John testing the back method:

...which looks hilarious, of course, but once we wrap her skirts around his waist (which are velcroed onto the cart for easy removal), the proportions will work. We plan to use the cart most of the time for comfort, but it's nice to have this option. Junk Lady and her arms are on a removable PVC frame, which hangs from the top section. This allows relatively easy access when we need to suit up.

We went through three different shirts for Junk Lady before my "AHA!" moment realizing she's wearing a ruffly linen ren-fair style thing. (It is VERY hard to tell in the film.) We had to make our own, of course, from a thrifted linen blouse. We cut out the back, and used that material to construct extra wrist cuffs and ruffles down the front:

Lots of different colored spray paint to age it down, and she's looking nice and goblin-y.

Next I added some creasing where her waist would be, to help the illusion of her being stooped over.

The shawl was an eventual solution to a real head-scratcher: how to hide the sides of the rolling cart while still looking like it was all Junk Lady's body back there.

She does wear a gray shawl in the film, but we never see below her waist, so there's no way to know how long it is. We chose to make the shawl floor length to serve our purposes, cutting slits for her arms to pull through to help hide those cart sides.

That shawl, btw, is yet another thrift-store find: a $2 baby blanket we cut in half, re-attached to make one long rectangle, then spray-painted gray.

Now let's talk about more of MY builds. Like the worm:

He started out like this:

Just a wad of tape-covered aluminum foil with two furniture tacks for eyes.

From there it was all paper clay sculpting again. (I tried to give him a slight smile, but he really looks like one of Ursula's Poor Unfortunate Souls here. Ha!)

The segments were surprisingly time-consuming.

Painting. I later used clear nail polish over the eyes to give them a realistic shine, and then I cursed my way through adding the hair, which was spray-painted bits of a $1 blue clip-in piece. (John drilled small holes in his head for the hair, but that was only partially successful.)

The original plan was to mount Worm right on top of Junk Lady's head, because I thought the contrast of happy worm vs grumpy goblin would be hilarious. Once we tested it, though...

...we realized Worm would be ALL you'd see. He's just too bright and colorful - way too distracting. So Worm got relocated to the back, perched on the edge of a cornucopia, which looks like a nice hidey-hole for a worm to live in, anyway. Plus he makes for a fun surprise when she turns around:

Oh, and that scarf? I had to hand stitch the entire band to get that little crease in it, because the felt was so stiff. Why must everything be so hard. (Oh who am I kidding: this whole thing has been a total blast.)

My other completed Easter Eggs so far:

Then pendant is more pink insulation foam topped with a decorative button, and the book is a faux-leather cover I made from chipboard and hand painted:

[Insert mini rant here about how every reproduction Labyrinth cover I could find online is wrong, uses the wrong roses, the wrong oval shape... JUST WRONG I SAY. So I had to muddle through trying to make my own.

Here's the screen shot I used for reference:

Mine's a long way from perfect, but google "Labyrinth book cover" and compare, and you'll see why I had to make my own.

(End Mini-Rant.)

Oh, and my cover has the novelization of Labyrinth inside, because even though no one can see it, it makes me happy, dangit.

I also made the grody dead chicken:

... by painting a rubber chicken and gluing a bunch of feather to it. Feathers, I might add, that John harvested from one of my favorite pillows. (But he sewed it back up, so I guess it's ok.)

I think the chicken still needs a little more aging. Like I said, we're still only 95% done. We have a few more props to build (though some of my more elaborate Easter Egg ideas will have to wait 'til Dragon Con), and I need to get these spider webs sorted out. Turns out party-store spider webs are SO HARD TO INSTALL. So we've ordered a theater-quality spiderweb blower last minute - a $30 splurge, but this is the icing on top, so to speak, so we really want it perfect.

If the blower doesn't arrive in time, though, I'll have to make do with these cotton webs, so I'm trying to make them work.

This is my face working with these webs:

Oh! Which reminds me: I redid her hair. Better, right? I added some curls and more rattiness to make it a little more screen-accurate:

All told, I think we've spent around $200 on her, with the majority of the cost going to PVC pipe (for the frame), various hardware clips, wire, burlap, rope, and lots and LOTS of thrift store finds. We supplemented quite a bit of raw materials we already had*, though (paints, clay, fabric, etc.), so I'd put her total material cost well over $250. Still, as cosplay expenses go, that is a BARGAIN.

[*Random Fun Fact: Junk Lady's bedroll behind her head is an intact Jawa robe John made me last year, before I realized even I am too tall for a Jawa.]

Update For FAQs: - Junk Lady weighs 37 pounds if worn, and just over that with her PVC cart. Not too heavy at all for a big guy like John, but we still plan to keep her on the cart most of the time for stability/comfort.

-
Yes, we can see! And better than you'd think, since
the burlap is see-through up close. I even have peripheral on one side,
which is nice. That said, we'll still be swapping off being a full-time handler, since Junk Lady is the definition of "Wide Load."

- Extra features I didn't mention: there is a small ventilation fan on top (it is HOT in there), and we've wired her for sound with a Blue Tooth speaker, which the non-costume-wearer can operate with his/her phone. No cupholder inside yet, though. ;)

****

John and I hope to have Junk Lady out Friday and possibly/probably Saturday at MegaCon this weekend, so keep an eye (and an ear) out for a lurching, clanging pile of junk. (We also have some audio surprises in store.) I will of course take better quality photo then, too, and maybe even some video of her out in the crowd.

And for you Dragon Con-goers, we plan to have her there, too, with a few more surprises!

Now we're off to go borrow a van for this weekend - so cross your fingers Junk Lady will fit inside. o.0 Even broken down into three pieces, this Lady has a LOT of junk in her trunk. Ha!

Believe it or not, yes! The burlap base is quite translucent up close, so I even have a limited field of vision on the sides, too. When John is inside he's looking through the back of the chair, like the original puppeteer did. With me, since I'm so short, I'm more looking *under* the chair back.

This is THE COOLEST thing I've ever seen. I would just be fit to burst wanting to yell at everyone about the awesome things I was making if I were you - but I guess that's the fun part of a blog, right?! GAH, so cool.

Just every little detail. Eeeeeeee! I can't even handle how amazing it all is. Worm and all the other Easter eggs are going to get so many squeeeees when you have her out in the crowds. And, John, that drum and chair and abacus and everything else! Wow!

I absolutely can not wait to see pics and hear the stories from MegaCon. You just *think* you've felt like rock stars before. When people see Junk Lady shuffling toward them in person, they're going to lose their freaking minds!

PLEASE tell me that someone has somehow comped you tickets for the Labyrinth ball by now. If anyone deserves to be there, it's you two and your special gal. Has she been named yet?

For spider webs I saw a quick way to do it on Face Off where they used an air compressor and hot glue gun to blow the "webs" onto the back of the chair. It may be worth looking into :) Awesome build, you guys are so handy and creative!!

As someone who has never seen Labyrinth (eek!) I could easily have been bored by this project. But what I love best about Epbot is your passion for your projects! It sucks me right in and makes me so interested in all the little details. This is clearly a labor of love for you and John and I can't wait for you to reap the rewards at both cons. Congratulations on a job well done!

this is absolutely fabulous. Of course the cost is nothing on the time and experience that it took to use the right materials in the right way. Don't sell yourself short. I'm curious if you know how much it ended up weighing?

Even only 95% done, she's AMAZING! Your skill and attention to detail is mesmerizing. She is going to be the star of the show at those cons for sure!! Thanks so much for sharing your process and genius.

Whenever I see these big crazy costumes, my thought process has always been, "Well that's amazing and I could never do anything like that" But having read your blog for years now, I feel like I can appreciate how much work this is, but I also understand that it's something possible for mere mortals. I so very much appreciate all your progress shots. think you should build a cup holder and a long straw into the inside! Thank you! and have a wonderful time!

YES! This makes me so happy. I always feel like the best crafters/artists/builders can explain their work in a way that makes it seem do-able. Not necessarily easy, but something I'd maybe want to try, you know? Anyway, I aspire to do the same for others - so thank you!

I follow Epbot (and Cake Wrecks too btw) but rarely comment. This lady, however, is definitely comment worthy! Oh my gosh, you guys!!!! I want to hug her! You guys are so talented and inspiring. My husband and I both just sat here watching the video over and over and then seeing how each thing was made...it's just too cool. Your attention to detail is incredible and Jen, your sculpting is amazing. You've got a gift, truly. What a great team you two make!

I cannot stop scrolling up and down admiring the photos. Your skills! Guys! I just cannot. This is amazing. I am flying to Orlando this weekend to go to Disney and am now seriously considering heading over to Megacon JUST to see this! Way better than Mickey Mouse!

Hmmm, we won't be able to confirm FOR SURE until Friday night, since Friday is our test run in the crowds. I want to gauge how manageable it will be for the big BIG crowds of Saturday. That said, I definitely want & plan to have her out for at least a few hours Saturday, since I know a lot of folks only go that one day.

Which is all a longwinded way of saying: remind me on Twitter or FB on Friday, and I'll tweet/FB our status to ya Friday night.

Jen, I don't think our one-sided imaginary internet friendship can continue anymore. I used to imagine us hanging out, all of us going out to dinner and people thinking John and I are brothers, bonding over our anxiety disorder experiences, generally geeking out. In my more realistic moments, I used to imagine that I'd be one of those people who would see you at a con and loudly say "THAT'S JEN" to a person standing next to me because I'd be too nervous to actually say hello.

But that kind of imaginary friendship can only be enjoyed between two people who are human beings. With this, you and John have proven that you are super-human. I'm not a huge cosplay person, but I've been to a number of cons, and this is the most impressive I've ever seen. I've seen costumes that took more work, or cost more money, or both, but none that so efficiently transformed that work and money into love that the beholder can appreciate. Cosplay (at least Labyrinth cosplay) is dead, because YOU AND JOHN HAVE KILLED IT.

So I don't think I can pretend you might someday be my friend anymore.

This is AMAZING. I haven't watched Labyrinth since it freaked me out as a teenager (a loooooong time ago), but clearly it is time to rewatch, just so I can enjoy this to the fullest extent. I'm assuming John can see through the chair, so as to not steamroll any innocent bystanders/gawkers/"OhmygodIhavetogetapictureortwenty!" people?

Yes, and vision in there is a lot better than you'd think; I can even see around the sides a bit, since the burlap is see-through up close. (Thankfully our test flash pictures don't show us inside, though.)

This is just... *sigh/squeal/hops* You guys did the most incredible job. I called hubby over to come take a peek (he knows you two as 'the reasons Jenn spent her nights working on a robot mascot instead of cleaning the house') and showed him the video and he gave a low whistle and said it looked like you guys stole the actual prop. And he's a MUGGLE, guys. A "smile and nod"-er at crafty inanity. This is, like, BIG PRAISE.

I bow in awe at the creativity and talent you two possess. What a fantastic job! Now I wish even more that I could make it to Dragon Con this year, but sadly, it's going to have to be an every-other-year thing for me. But, dang, I wish I could see her in person and marvel at your amazingness. Well done!!

This is so amazing!! I totally wish I lived closer to you so I could go see this in person! I'm totally nervous about attending a con, but if I had the chance to go to see you guys in action, I would do it! I love your creativity, and thanks for sharing it all with us! I can't wait to see and hear how it goes this weekend!

Wow. I said in the comments of your last post that you, Jen, are a fabulous sculptor. Apparently, John is too. Y'all are your own dynamic duo. Thanks, as always, for keeping us impressed and visually stimulated.

You're a wizard, John (spoken in my best Hagrid voice). And now I know why you wear rainbow shoes, Jen...you are magical, like a unicorn. Seriously, this is beyond fantastic. Since I can't be at the Con, I know what I will be watching this weekend! Haven't watched Labyrinth in ages!

You guys are, at this point, my only reason for wanting to go to DragonCon anymore! And I want to go SO BAD!!! And I live right here!!!It just never works out. One day... Your talents are INCONCEIVABLE!

The pics are great, but OMG, the video is so totally amazing! People are going to freak out when you take it to the cons! There has to be video of people's reactions, please! I want to see the freaking out, it always makes me so happy.

She is absolutely INCREDIBLE. I really wish we had the money to go to MegaCon now! I squeed when I saw the worm! And Toby! At least, I think that's what you were going for with the teddy bear. That's what he reminded me of.

Please tell me that John uses a respirator when heat bending PVC because it is definitely toxic. The more you two get into making costumes and props, the more you need to read up on safety. As a theater professional, I've seen the cancer fatality rates firsthand. It is not pretty. It is completely avoidable.

I love EVERYTHING about this- the attention to detail, the ingenuity, the passion behind every piece crafted into this phenomenal cosplay. This is seriously the most amazing thing I've even seen costume-wise, and I say this because I am astounded by the cleverness of you two! You made it all for under 250?!?!?! HOLY MOTHER OF MONKEY MILK!!!

AND YA'LL ARE COMING TO DRAGON CON THIS YEAR!??! -starts to hyperventilate- OMG I HAVE TO FIND YA'LL! What hotel will you be hanging out in with this outfit? Marriott? Hilton?

I'm asking because I TOO AM DOING A LABYRINTH COSPLAY THIS YEAR. I'd love to get a picture together if possible!

I just...I applaud you SO HARDCORE. This makes me so excited like you can't even believe.

I just want you to know you made me cry. This is the most incredible costume I have ever seen. Your attention to detail is sublime. I don't cosplay; however, you have inspired me. I couldn't hope to achieve something so wonderful, but Labrynth has been my favorite movie since it came out. I notice something new every time I watch it. I absolutely adore the punk rock worm and you captured him brilliantly. I can hear him inviting me in for "a cuppa tea" to "meet the missus." Thank you for sharing your talent.